Parents of District 4 pupils, your OUSD representative (replacing Gary Yee) will be appointed by the current board by June 12. More details from the Tuesday meeting where trustees decided on all this are here. ]]>

Parents of District 4 pupils, your OUSD representative (replacing Gary Yee) will be appointed by the current board by June 12. More details from the Tuesday meeting where trustees decided on all this are here. ]]>http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2013/05/01/ousd-d4-replacement/feed/29OUSDBoE-2013OUSD Board’s Gary Yee candidate for acting superintendenthttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2013/04/22/ousd-boards-gary-yee-candidate-to-temporarily-replace-superintendent-tony-smith/
http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2013/04/22/ousd-boards-gary-yee-candidate-to-temporarily-replace-superintendent-tony-smith/#commentsMon, 22 Apr 2013 16:04:36 +0000awoodallhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/?p=16328The Oakland Board of Education will host a press conference on Monday April 22nd to announce Dr. Gary Yee as a candidate for the position of Acting Superintendent in the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). The Board will formally consider… Continue Reading →]]>The Oakland Board of Education will host a press conference on Monday April 22nd to announce Dr. Gary Yee as a candidate for the position of Acting Superintendent in the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). The Board will formally consider the matter during its next Regular Board Meeting on Wednesday, April 24 when a vote will be taken on the replacement for current Superintendent Tony Smith...Read the full announcement here.]]>http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2013/04/22/ousd-boards-gary-yee-candidate-to-temporarily-replace-superintendent-tony-smith/feed/21Oakland school board to vote on local governance policyhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/04/24/oakland-school-board-to-vote-on-local-governance-policy/
http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/04/24/oakland-school-board-to-vote-on-local-governance-policy/#commentsTue, 24 Apr 2012 22:47:53 +0000Katy Murphyhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/?p=14807Tomorrow night, the Oakland school board votes on a resolution that would establish its intent to give principals, school staff members and families greater authority to improve their school as they see fit. Each school would create a “Theory of… Continue Reading →]]>Tomorrow night, the Oakland school board votes on a resolution that would establish its intent to give principals, school staff members and families greater authority to improve their school as they see fit.
Each school would create a "Theory of Action," to which it would align its "people, programs, money, and time."
The board would also attempt to give local leaders more say in who works at their schools, a strategy which proved to be a sticking point with the teachers union this year. (In resolution language: "Strengthen the ability of school governance teams, through established collective bargaining protocols and agreements, to determine the composition of their employee teams.")
It would allocate funding to schools based on student "needs and life circumstances." Details TBD.
This one-page policy proposal (embedded below) was vetted by members of the Special Committee on School-Based Management and Budgeting and was presented to the school board for a first reading last week.
Here's how it starts:

Unified School District to create learning environments that make more effective teaching and learning possible.
The Board of Education believes that those closest to students at a school – employees, parents, students, community partners – are generally in the best position to know the specific academic, social, and emotional needs of their students, and how best to address those needs.
The Board of Education, within the context of established OUSD strategic priorities, performance accountability standards, and collective bargaining agreements, believes that empowering school governance teams to align and manage resources to effectively address the specific needs of their students is a necessary and fundamental condition to enable every school to make more effective teaching and learning possible.

Do you agree that this is the right direction for OUSD? Clearly, much of it will depend on its implementation, including future negotiations with the union on staffing rules. In your view, which of these goals -- if any -- should the district address first?
School governance
]]>http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/04/24/oakland-school-board-to-vote-on-local-governance-policy/feed/11OUSD board adjourns meeting after sit-inhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/03/29/ousd-board-adjourns-meeting-after-sit-in/
http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/03/29/ousd-board-adjourns-meeting-after-sit-in/#commentsThu, 29 Mar 2012 07:40:50 +0000Katy Murphyhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/?p=14566

UPDATE: OUSD Spokesman Troy Flint said 10 protesters were arrested, beginning at 12:35 a.m., after refusing to leave the building. Tonight, a group of about a dozen or more activists from BAMN held a sit-in and protest in the midst… Continue Reading →]]>

UPDATE: OUSD Spokesman Troy Flint said 10 protesters were arrested, beginning at 12:35 a.m., after refusing to leave the building.
Tonight, a group of about a dozen or more activists from BAMN held a sit-in and protest in the midst of the board meeting, saying they wouldn't leave until the board took back its October decision to close five elementary schools. (At one point Alice Spearman, who serves up at least two colorful quotes and/or insults per meeting, issued this challenge: "I want to say to these revolutionaries who want to camp out: I hope you’ve got your tent. I hope you do. Walk your talk.")
After an hour-long recess, when the Oakland school board and the television cameras returned to the board room, activists resumed their chanting about children, gentrification and schools not being for sale. (None are for sale that I know of; some might be leased to charter schools or the Emery school district, which some protesters were describing as majority-white. You can find that district's actual student demographics here. Oakland has a greater percentage of white students.).
Then, without further ado, the board members and staff grabbed their personal effects and left, adjourning the meeting to tomorrow afternoon.
After the board walked out the first time, a man in a Santa Fe Elementary T-shirt told the activists (which did include a couple of Lakeview grandparents) that he had been waiting for hours to speak on the agenda item to lease Santa Fe to Emery Unified after the school closes in June.
"The point is you deprived the community to make their point to the school board," he said. "This was disrespectful."
Earlier in the meeting, a number of teachers union leaders spoke out against Superintendent Tony Smith's plan to replace the regular teaching positions at Castlemont, Fremont and McClymonds high schools with teachers-on-special-assignment, or TSAs. They held a rally before the meeting on the steps of the district headquarters.
The board also had an interesting (and at times, procedurally perplexing) discussion about the future of Lazear Elementary. The board voted to close the school last fall, and to keep it open, parents have applied for a charter conversion. OUSD staff recommended the board reject the petition, but Noel Gallo made a motion to approve the charter. Alice Spearman also voiced her support, as did Chris Dobbins.
The board ended up tabling the matter, asking staff to work out a similar "partnership charter" arrangement as they did with ASCEND and Learning Without Limits. One of the provisions in that agreement might be for the charter organization to consider returning Lazear to district (non-charter) status in two years.
Anyone get why would that be, when the only reason it's going charter is to stay open despite the district's decision to close it?]]>http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/03/29/ousd-board-adjourns-meeting-after-sit-in/feed/8sit-in at OUSD board meetingOakland school board protestOn this week’s OUSD board agenda: school facilities, police review, charters and grading policyhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/03/26/on-this-weeks-ousd-board-agenda-school-facilities-police-review-charters-and-grading-policy/
http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/03/26/on-this-weeks-ousd-board-agenda-school-facilities-police-review-charters-and-grading-policy/#commentsMon, 26 Mar 2012 23:37:28 +0000Katy Murphyhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/?p=14522I’m gearing up for a long night on Wednesday. Among many other agenda items, the Oakland school board will hear a report from the Ad Hoc Committee on Police Services (it hasn’t been posted as of this afternoon); a discussion… Continue Reading →]]>I'm gearing up for a long night on Wednesday. Among many other agenda items, the Oakland school board will hear a report from the Ad Hoc Committee on Police Services (it hasn't been posted as of this afternoon); a discussion about possible revisions to the district's student grading policies and regulations; an update on the expansions of Burckhalter and Kaiser elementary schools; and lots of decisions about the use of district property.
The board will also vote on the Lazear Elementary School charter conversion petition. Staff has recommended denial, saying it presents an unsound program that is unlikely to be successful. Lazear is one of the five elementary schools the board voted last fall to close at the end of the school year.
FACILITIES DEALS: Proposition 39 is a California constitutional amendment passed in 2000 that, among other provisions, gave charter schools the right to available space in public school buildings. If the board adopts the below proposals, some of the city's existing and new charters might open at schools that the district has shut down or planned to close.
There are so many of these facilities proposals on Wednesday's agenda, they almost call for some sort of diagram. For now, I'll try my best to sketch it out in words.

Lazear Elementary, slated for closure in June, would be home to both the Bay Area Technology School and the Community School for Creative Education.

Edward Shands Adult School, shuttered after massive adult education budget cuts (made districtwide, as well as statewide), would be used by Arise High School.

Urban Montessori would move into the property on 2111 International Boulevard -- now OUSD offices, but previously where Life Academy was. The district moved the high school in 2008, citing earthquake safety concerns. (The district's spokesman has said that it is possible those OUSD departments will, in turn, move into Lakeview Elementary, another school that's closing in June. That item is not on Wednesday's agenda, but it might be discussed as part of this related item. )

Santa Fe Elementary would be leased to Emery Unified for three years, at $500,000 annually.

What do you think of these proposals?

]]>http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/03/26/on-this-weeks-ousd-board-agenda-school-facilities-police-review-charters-and-grading-policy/feed/7OUSD board considers charter school conversions tonighthttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/03/07/ousd-board-considers-charter-school-conversions-tonight/
http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/03/07/ousd-board-considers-charter-school-conversions-tonight/#commentsWed, 07 Mar 2012 17:11:26 +0000Katy Murphyhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/?p=14403UPDATE: The OUSD board voted 6-0 (board member Alice Spearman wasn’t present) to approve the charter conversions of both ASCEND and Learning Without Limits. You can find the full story here. As a result of the higher-than-normal facilities rate the… Continue Reading →]]>UPDATE: The OUSD board voted 6-0 (board member Alice Spearman wasn't present) to approve the charter conversions of both ASCEND and Learning Without Limits. You can find the full story here.
As a result of the higher-than-normal facilities rate the schools will pay OUSD to remain in their buildings ($2.50 per square foot, compared to $1.35 per square foot), their per-student contributions to the state debt, and the services the schools plan to buy from the district as part of a services agreement, OUSD expects to lose about $48,000 after it's all said and done, down from the original $826,350 projected just a few weeks ago. (Note: OUSD will lose $4.5 million in state revenue from the conversion, but $3.67 million in costs will be eliminated, bringing the difference to $826,350.)
*******************************************************************************
In January, Oakland Superintendent Tony Smith recommended that the school board reject efforts by ASCEND and Learning Without Limits elementary schools to secede from the district and operate as independent charter schools. The board did just that.
Then, last month, the two schools submitted revised applications -- and the district administration is asking the board to approve them this evening.
Why the reversal? Last month, ASCEND and Learning Without Limits principals said the district was interested in what they called a "partnership charter." We should learn more tonight at a special meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. You can find the petitions and the recommendations for ASCEND here and Learning Without Limits here.
If the Oakland school board approves the charter petitions, the schools' leaders say they will stop their appeal to the Alameda County Board of Education, which is scheduled to hold a hearing next week. If the county approved the charter school petitions, the county -- not the Oakland school district -- would oversee the schools.
What should the OUSD board do?]]>http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/03/07/ousd-board-considers-charter-school-conversions-tonight/feed/12Oakland considers a different kind of charter schoolhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/02/23/oakland-considers-a-different-kind-of-charter-school/
http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/02/23/oakland-considers-a-different-kind-of-charter-school/#commentsThu, 23 Feb 2012 08:19:55 +0000Katy Murphyhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/?p=14321Two Oakland elementary schools whose attempted breakaway from the district was recently denied (by the district) are taking a different approach in their quest for independence. Tonight, the principals of ASCEND and Learning Without Limits turned in revised charter conversion… Continue Reading →]]>Two Oakland elementary schools whose attempted breakaway from the district was recently denied (by the district) are taking a different approach in their quest for independence. Tonight, the principals of ASCEND and Learning Without Limits turned in revised charter conversion applications -- this time, for "partnership charters," which would work closely with OUSD and its five-year strategic plan.
The faculties at both schools voted last fall to separate from the district in order to have more control over staffing, finances, curriculum and scheduling -- conditions they said they felt all public schools should have. It was a blow to the district, and it came out as the board was holding its contentious school closure hearings.
But in recent weeks, district staff and the leaders of the two would-be charters -- brought together by OUSD's general counsel, Jackie Minor -- have been negotiating a compromise.
Unlike other charter schools in OUSD, ASCEND and Learning Without Limits would chip in to pay down the district's enormous debt from its 2003 meltdown and state bailout loan, a bill that comes to $6 million a year. They would also buy services from the district, including professional development and school meals, and its teachers and administrators would participate in some trainings and collaborative workshops with their district counterparts.
Students would enroll exclusively through the district's student assignment process (though that doesn't mean they'll have more room for students displaced from closed schools), and the schools would be part of the same disciplinary system as they are now. In other words, they'd still receive children who are expelled from other schools, and their students would participate in the same disciplinary procedures as kids from district schools.
Larissa Adam, the principal of ASCEND, a small K-8 near the Fruitvale BART station, said the schools would be a "space for innovation." That was actually one of the main reasons charter schools were created -- to try out new ideas so that traditional public schools could incorporate the ones that worked. In practice, district and charter schools haven't worked together as closely as hoped; initiatives have sprung up to encourage collaboration.
The staff members at ASCEND and Learning Without Limits, by contrast, already have relationships with colleagues elsewhere in OUSD.
"It seems like the best of all worlds to continue to be collaborating with the folks that we've been collaborating with for years," said Leo Fuchs, the principal of Learning Without Limits, one of two small schools on the Jefferson campus in East Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood.
This doesn't mean the schools' leaders have halted their appeal process on the original charter school application; the Alameda County Board of Education is scheduled to hear that appeal on March 13, the two principals said. But if the Oakland school board approves the partnership charter request first, at a special meeting on March 7, they plan to drop the appeal.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether at least four members of the OUSD board will feel the same way. I guess we'll find out on March 7.
What do you think about this proposal?]]>http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/02/23/oakland-considers-a-different-kind-of-charter-school/feed/23The Oakland Wayhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/02/16/the-oakland-way/
http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/02/16/the-oakland-way/#commentsThu, 16 Feb 2012 22:35:13 +0000Katy Murphyhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/?p=14300

Discussions are underway for radically changing how things work for Oakland school district employees and the students they serve. Like a good newspaper lede, the opening line of the below human resources document makes you want to keep on reading… Continue Reading →]]>

Discussions are underway for radically changing how things work for Oakland school district employees and the students they serve.
Like a good newspaper lede, the opening line of the below human resources document makes you want to keep on reading -- despite the fact that it's an HR document.
"Current OUSD Human Resource practices are failing children," it begins.
The ideas put forth in the discussion paper embedded below are comprehensive and wide-ranging, from strengthening relationships with local teacher colleges to creating "career ladders" for teachers, updating antiquated job classifications and lobbying state lawmakers make changes in the law with respect to labor rules.
One bullet point suggests that the district "assertively pursue separation for those whose service undermines the success of our children" -- a topic that's later couched, euphemistically, as a transition (i.e. helping ineffective staff find "future opportunities outside the district").
The meeting was interesting too -- more so than most, at least to me. The leaders of four different unions each had 12 minutes to contribute to the discussion. You can watch the video of the meeting here.
I'd give it a listen, especially to what Morris Tatum (AFSCME) and Mynette Theard (SEIU) had to say about the marginalization -- and potential -- of support staff, a topic that rarely surfaces at board meetings. If you really want to know what's happening with the students, Tatum said, just ask the custodian. Both leaders said their members would like to be asked their opinions from time to time, or invited to meetings. (On the other hand, Tatum said, classified staff are often afraid to pipe up, worried their position will be cut.)
What do you think of this "discussion paper?" What ideas jump out to you?
The Oakland Way
]]>http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/02/16/the-oakland-way/feed/39Get Microsoft SilverlightOUSD’s strategic plan — and your place in ithttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/02/15/ousds-strategic-plan-and-your-place-in-it/
http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/02/15/ousds-strategic-plan-and-your-place-in-it/#commentsThu, 16 Feb 2012 07:56:48 +0000Katy Murphyhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/?p=14295On Tuesday evening, I’ll be speaking on a panel convened by the League of Women Voters about the strategic plan the Oakland school board adopted last year. The event, from 6-8 p.m. at Oakland City Hall, is titled “The Promise and the… Continue Reading →]]>On Tuesday evening, I'll be speaking on a panel convened by the League of Women Voters about the strategic plan the Oakland school board adopted last year. The event, from 6-8 p.m. at Oakland City Hall, is titled "The Promise and the Challenge."
I've been invited to talk about the role the community should -- or needs to -- play in meeting the plan's goals. It's a good thing I have a few days to do my homework first (and that I have this blog!), as the answer isn't clear to me.
What about you? As a parent, neighbor, volunteer, or OUSD employee, do you feel you have a sense of your place in the work outlined in the strategic plan? If so, I'd love to hear what it is -- and how you learned about it.
If you aren't really sure about what the plan is or how you might fit into it, do you have suggestions for the district's leaders about how to spread the word and call to action more widely?]]>http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/02/15/ousds-strategic-plan-and-your-place-in-it/feed/20If the Oakland school district had $1.46 billion…http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/01/04/if-the-oakland-school-district-had-1-46-billion/
http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/01/04/if-the-oakland-school-district-had-1-46-billion/#commentsWed, 04 Jan 2012 22:19:54 +0000Katy Murphyhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/?p=14123Project list This evening, after the Oakland school board picks a president and vice president for 2012 (6 p.m.), it moves onto its facilities master plan. The special study session — no vote on the plan tonight — is scheduled to… Continue Reading →]]>Project list
This evening, after the Oakland school board picks a president and vice president for 2012 (6 p.m.), it moves onto its facilities master plan. The special study session -- no vote on the plan tonight -- is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. at 1025 Second Ave.
The presentation posted on the agenda (links below) covers enrollment and demographic trends, facts about the number, age and size of district buildings, and a list of projects that might be undertaken if OUSD had the money.
If OUSD tackled every project on that list it would cost an estimated $1.46 billion, not including change orders and cost overruns. (The figure is listed on one slide as $1,460 million, which -- though probably standard for these kinds of reports -- sounds a little like someone saying they're five-foot-twelve.)
It includes: $145 million in projects from the 2005 master plan that never materialized, such as upgrades to fire alarms; $333 million in seismic safety improvements; $457 million in modernization projects; $53 million in solar and energy efficiency; $300 million to replace portable buildings and $172.5 million for community kitchens, health care centers and other "site optimization" projects.
As most of the Measure B funds have been allocated or spent, this project prioritization appears to be in preparation for another bond measure campaign, which the board discussed last fall (election date and amount TBD).
You can find links to the relevant documents here and the projects list below. Come 6 p.m., you'll find a link to a live video stream of the meeting here -- and something called "eComment," which I hadn't noticed before.
What's your take on the facilities master plan?]]>http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2012/01/04/if-the-oakland-school-district-had-1-46-billion/feed/49